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Rattus Rattus
Rattus Rattus was a robot which competed exclusively in Series 3 of Robot Wars. Rattus Rattus won its first battle against S.M.I.D.S.Y. but lost to the experienced Dreadnaut in Round 2. Design Rattus Rattus was shaped like a rodent, with a pointed-wedge front and chassis from an old desk. It had six wheels as it was considered "easier" to steer, as it had tank style control and the weight would be balanced over the middle wheels. Rattus Rattus website (archived) - Origins. Its armament included two spikes at the front, and a flail at the rear. It was originally going to be over 2.5 metres long, but the team was forced to cut it in half upon discovering that a robot that size would not fit in their car. Despite this, it was still the longest in its heat. Rattus Rattus was originally covered in brown fur but the fur was not permitted after a test. It took 3 days to remove the fur and add a different coating. However Rattus Rattus still maintained its Dark brown colour scheme,Rattus Rattus website (archived) - Rattus Rattus's Bodywork though it appeared black on television. Etymology Rattus Rattus was said to have its name derived from the Latin name of the Common Rat (or Brown Rat). In actual fact, Rattus rattus is the Latin name of the closely related House Rat (or Black Rat), with the Common Rat's actual Latin name being Rattus norvegicus. The team jokingly claimed that Rattus Rattus was from the fourteenth century, and had been responsible for the spread of the bubonic plague. Despite the name confusion, Rattus rattus ''was indeed the rat species that helped spread the plague. The Team Rattus Rattus was entered by a two man team from Guernsey, consisting of team captain Gary Pike, who drove the robot, and Rick Ozanne, the technical and electronic advisor. The Rattus Rattus team were the only ever team to come from the Channel Islands. Qualification Rattus Rattus qualified for Series 3 by running the obstacle course. It went through a slight change when it attempted qualification in later seasons, with the flail being removed and the armour being changed in order to withstand attacks from House Robots - otherwise the design remained similar. Rattus Rattus first attempted to enter Series 4, where it fought Dominator 2. Rattus Rattus immediately came under fire, with the axe of Dominator 2 piercing straight through its rear armour. A second axe blow from Dominator 2 allowed it to pierce Rattus Rattus and push it into the pit. However, in the process of pitting Rattus Rattus, the removable link fell out of Dominator 2, and as a result, Rattus Rattus was declared to be the winner of the battle. Despite this, Rattus Rattus was not chosen to compete in Series 4, whereas Dominator 2 received a discretionary place. Rattus Rattus also attempted to qualify for Series 5. Its only known qualifier battle was a six-way melee which also included Granny's Revenge, Purple Predator, Razer, Roobarb and Shunthttp://web.archive.org/web/20050209115437fw_/http://www.teamroobarb.co.uk/events_rws5.htm, but ultimately this did not lead to Rattus Rattus earning a place in the Fifth Wars. Robot History Series 3 Rattus Rattus took part in the final heat of the Third Wars. Rattus Rattus was placed up against fellow newcomers S.M.I.D.S.Y. in the first round of the heat. After a cautious start to the battle, Rattus Rattus managed to get in underneath its opponent. Rattus Rattus was then bounced by the arena floor spike a few times before driving up and over S.M.I.D.S.Y.'s top. Rattus Rattus then pushed S.M.I.D.S.Y. onto the arena spike, and then into Dead Metal's CPZ, before colliding with Dead Metal itself, dislodging its own body shell upon impact. Rattus Rattus then carelessly drove over the flame pit and began smoking, but S.M.I.D.S.Y. meanwhile was limping itself, and was eventually pushed into the pit of oblivion by Dead Metal, therefore putting Rattus Rattus through to the next round of the heat. After the fight, the team revealed that they had fitted a block of wood at the tip of the wedge, with the vain hope that it would keep the shell in place. In the second round, Rattus Rattus was placed up against ''Robot Wars veterans Dreadnaut. In this battle, Rattus Rattus was eagerly moving backwards and forwards before 'activate' was called, but when 'activate' was called, Rattus Rattus did not even move at all. Dreadnaut rammed into it a few times, before the house robots moved in and began attacking Rattus Rattus, with Dead Metal in particular causing major damage to the outer shell. Cease was eventually called and Rattus Rattus was eliminated from the competition. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 1 Series Record RattusRattusTeam.jpg|The team with Rattus Rattus Rattus_Rattus_in_the_pits.jpg|Rattus Rattus in the pits with its shell on the floor Razer Rattus Rattus pits 3.png|Rattus Rattus' cameo in the First World Championship (rear-centre) Trivia *Had it not been cut in half, it would have been the second longest robot to enter Robot Wars. *In the Third Wars, the statistics board for Prizephita mistakenly displayed the names of the Rattus Rattus team instead. References External Links *Rattus Rattus website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from the Channel Islands Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots with Flails Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots with rollover designs Category:Robots which debuted in Series 3 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 3 Category:Robots based on rodents Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 4